District Testing Under Scrutiny, Again

Audio

San Diego Unified school board member John Evans wants district officials to analyze the purpose behind all the testing taking place in the district. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.

The testing came under fire earlier this year after teachers and parents took their case to the school board.

District tests aren't required by the state and federal government, but district officials say they help teachers tailor instruction. But teachers say the testing bogs down learning. They also say there's no training on how to use the data.

That's why school trustee Evans is pushing a proposal allowing teachers to help determine which tests should stay, and which need to go.

Evans:
Maybe there is something that should be required. Or maybe there can be different tests that teachers can choose from that would be most helpful to them, that might be optional. So that's what I want us to do during this year, is meet closely with teachers and figure out what kinds of tests we should use.

A couple dozen district tests will be given to students this year, that's on top of a series of state and federally mandated exams.

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